ETON-DORNEY — The New Zealand pair of Eric Murray andHamish Bond have won 15 straight races since they were put together in 2009.

In case there was any lingering doubt about theirpedigree, they posted a world-best time by some six seconds on Saturday, thefirst day of the Olympic rowing regatta, as they obliterated the field in theirheat.

When confronted with the overwhelming weight of thisevidence, most people would concede the Kiwis are the boat to beat on LakeDorney. Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen, you need to know, are not most people.

“They have a huge bulls-eye on their back and it’s aweight and a pressure that can often be unwelcome,” said the Calder half of theCanadian pair that won their heat Saturday and advanced to Wednesday’ssemifinal. “You think about the American eights that won every race from 1997up until Sydney [and the 2000 Olympics], then had an epic fall from grace.There are countless stories of boats not being able to follow through.”

In other words, Dave, you’ve got them right where youwant them.

“I think they’re high-calibre athletes and I certainlydon’t expect them to implode,” the Victoria product continued. “But I can onlyimagine the weight they feel. We have a one-in-three chance of getting them forour semifinal and I welcome the idea of learning a little bit more about theirrace tactics.”

We’d say be careful what you wish for, but both Calderand Frandsen seem unfazed by the prospect of facing the New Zealand super boat.

The Canadians, who won silver in Beijing four years ago,started their Olympics in style with an error-free, professional performance onthe Eton College rowing basin. Pitted against American, Aussie and Dutch boats,they grabbed an early lead and were never seriously threatened before winningthe heat by half a boat length.

The efficiency of that result stood in stark contrast totheir first outing in Beijing, when they wilted in the heat and barelyqualified for the semifinal with a third-place finish. From that point,however, they righted things and eventually earned Canada’s first medal of theBeijing Games.

“We really just focused on what we had to do and dumb itdown so it’s like a race in Lucerne [at the World Cup] or Victoria [duringtraining] or wherever,” said Calder.

And that says something about the pair’s experience. Thisis the fourth Olympics for Calder and the third for Frandsen. They aren’t asphysically imposing as the Kiwis and other boats, but what they lack in rawpower they more than make up for in technique and chemistry.

That’s a neat summation of the Canadian pair, who believetheir experience will give them an advantage in Wednesday’s semifinals.

“I think it gives you a confident feeling when you’re inthe start blocks,” the Kelowna-born Frandsen said. “We’ve done this before andwe know what we need to do. There’s nothing new. We go out and raise our gamewhen we need to. There’s no doubt in our mind that’s going to happen.”

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